Constitution_Of_Botswana.TXT number of persons entitled to vote shall be declared elected as President; (e) a person elected as President under this section shall assume the office of President on the day upon which he or she is declared to be elected; (f) not more than three ballots shall be taken unless in the opinion of the Speaker the holding of further ballots is likely to result in the election of a President, in which case not more than two further ballots may be taken; (g) only one ballot shall be taken at any sitting of the Assembly, and the Speaker may adjourn the meeting at which a second or subsequent ballot is to be taken for such number of days (in addition to the days on which and to which the meeting is adjourned), not being more than two, as he or she thinks fit; (h) if there is no candidate duly nominated for the first ballot in accordance with paragraph (b) or if after the number of ballots permitted under paragraph (f) have been taken no candidate has been declared elected Parliament shall stand dissolved or, in the case of a Presidential election held in accordance with section 32(6) of this Constitution, the foregoing general election shall be void. (6) No business other than the election of a President shall be transacted at a meeting of the National Assembly under subsection (4) of this section or under section 32(6) of this Constitution and such a meeting or any sitting thereof shall not be regarded as a meeting or sitting of the Assembly for the purposes of any other provision of this Constitution. (7) At any time when the office of Speaker is vacant or the holder of that office is unable by reason of absence or illness to exercise the functions vested in him or her by this section and section 32(6) of this Constitution, those functions may be exercised by the Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly or, if there is no Deputy Speaker or the Deputy Speaker is unable by reason of absence or illness to exercise those functions, by such member of the Assembly (not being the President or Vice-President or a Minister or Assistant Minister) as the Assembly may elect for that purpose. [Ch0000s36] 36. Discharge of functions of President during absence, illness, etc. (1) Whenever the President is absent from Botswana or considers it desirable to do so by reason of illness or any other cause he or she may, by directions in writing, authorize(a) the Vice-President; or (b) during any period when there is no Vice-President or the Vice-President is absent from Botswana or is, by reason of physical or mental infirmity, unable to perform the functions of his or her office, some other Minister, to discharge such of the functions of the office of President as he or she may specify, and the Vice-President or other Minister may discharge those functions until his or her authority is revoked by the President. (2) If the President is incapable by reason of physical or mental infirmity of discharging the functions of his or her office and the infirmity is of such a nature that the President is unable to authorize another person under this section to perform those functions(a) the Vice-President; or (b) during any period when there is no Vice-President or the Vice-President is absent from Botswana or the Vice-President is, by reason of physical or mental infirmity, unable to perform the functions of his or her office, such Minister as the Cabinet shall appoint, shall perform the functions of the office of President. (3) A person performing the functions of the office of President under this section shall not exercise the power of the President to revoke the appointment of the Vice-President or to dissolve Parliament. (4) A person performing the functions of the office of President by virtue of subsection (2) of this section shall cease to perform those functions if he or she is notified by the President that the President is about to resume those functions. (5) For the purposes of this section, a certificate of the Chief Justice that(a) the President is incapable by reason of physical or mental infirmity of discharging the functions of his or her office and the infirmity is of such a nature that the President is unable to authorize another person under this section Page 17